The above clip is of the then LAB PM, Jim Callaghan arriving back at Heathrow in early 1979 being questioned about the then industrial and political situation where his party no longer had a majority. The months that followed this were later called “The Winter of Discontent”.

The Sun front page the following day ran the headline “Crisis – What crisis” although as can seen in the clip he never used those words.

The reason I put this up is that tomorrow my wife and are taking part in a theatrical experience at the New Diorama Theatre in London called “Crisis What Crisis” in which the audience plays a part in determining events.

Apparently, the ending can be different with every performance.

In early 1979 I was close observer of events myself. At the time I was an editor in the BBC national newsroom at Broadcasting House when this was totally dominating the news.

This is how the theatre describes the production:

It’s 1979. Jim Callaghan’s Labour Government has a working majority of zero. Parliament is deadlocked. The workers are on strike. Your advice will change the country forever..You and your fellow parliamentary advisers are gathered in a neglected office building, away from the press. Your job is to avert disaster..Join this acclaimed immersive theatrical experience, where the audience must advise a government in crisis – with Margaret Thatcher’s Conservatives just around the corner..Crisis? What Crisis? puts you in the driving seat. Your decisions shape the evening. Can you end the deadlock? Can you rescue the government, reconcile the trade unions and survive a vote of no confidence? Or will Britain plunge into chaos?

Mike Smithson